The Gaza SolutionsMike Ghouse, Saturday, December 27, 2008
The world sympathized with Israel for the rockets they endured in their backyards, but when they get on the revenge bandwagon and indiscriminately kill, they lose sympathy. The oppressed ones all around the world including the majority of Israelis and Jews feel the pain of this violence, it flies in the face of our continued efforts to stop massacres, it is time for all of us to speak up. This is not the act of peace making; this is the act of destroying a people.
Continued at: http://www.mikeghouse.net/Articles/Gaza.Solutions.asp
PLEASE NOTE: I am committed to peace and my words and my actions are expressed to mitigate conflicts and nurture goodwill. This is one of the most painful events this month and I have done my best to focus on solutions though not fully satisfied with it. I particularly invite my Palestinian and Israeli friends to add another perspective with the intention of finding solutions. No solution will be fully acceptable to any one, but we have to take the steps to break the cycle of revenge - all of us owe the hope and security to those little Children in Palestine and Israel, we cannot live in peace unless we think and act peace and it begins with each one of us. Furthermore, neither Israelis nor Palestinians can have advantages at the cost of the other, such benefits are temporary and deleterious to lasting peace. We believe what is good for one has got to be good for the other and vice versa, to sustain it. It is in their interest to ensure Justness. Please share your comments below.
ReplyDeleteThis is excellent.....of course, as humans--Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Jews, etc.--committed to justice, we all hope and pray that the chronic Palestine-Israeli quagmire gets resolved. Indeed, by all accounts, that issue ranks as No.1 as the root cause of Muslim rage throughout the Islamic world, and thus, a key source of terrorism by Muslim extremists.
ReplyDeleteYet, from what I see, I cannot share your optimism about the Obama Administration. Despite his campaign rhetoric (especially in the early months), his election fundamentally also depended on his submission to the dictates of the LOBBY. And he might just turn out to be just as hawkish as the Bush neocons. Notice, too, how, at the Convention, Jimmy Carter was snubbed. John Mearsheimer of U/Chicago tells me that Obama has completely succumbed to the LOBBY's dictates (you are probably familiar with Mearsheimer's works).
As for Gaza genocide, so what?.....
Its sort of routine for Israel, with U.S. complicity and European acquiescence; rest of the world matters little.
Best wishes.....
Ghazi
It is extremely sad that innocent people in Israel and Palestine are dying due to a cause that could have been solved a long time ago, if both the peoples wanted to do so. But unfortunately, many people in both the places are intransigent and they want to prevail through the strength of arms.
ReplyDeleteThere are many good people on both sides, but they are either ineffective or unwilling to raise their voice due to prevalent circumstances in the places they live. Or they do not have much support from others to do anything to force their leaders into solving the problem that keeps both the peoples on a war footing.
Mohammad Asghar
It is extremely sad that innocent people in Israel and Palestine are dying due to a cause that could have been solved a long time ago, if both the peoples wanted to do so. But unfortunately, many people in both the places are intransigent and they want to prevail through the strength of arms.
ReplyDeleteThere are many good people on both sides, but they are either ineffective or unwilling to raise their voice due to prevalent circumstances in the places they live. Or they do not have much support from others to do anything to force their leaders into solving the problem that keeps both the peoples on a war footing.
Had the good people wished to act, could not they prevent a small number of Muslims from carrying out terrorist acts in many parts of the world?
Mohammad Asghar
Dear Mike ,
ReplyDeletePlease allow me to share with you our statement below about the headlines seen in papers across the world yesterday and today.
In sadness on this terrible day,
Cecilie Surasky
Jewish Voice for Peace
December 28, 2008
Jewish Voice for Peace joins millions around the world, including the 1,000 Israelis who protested in the streets of Tel Aviv this weekend, in condemning ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza. We call for an immediate end to attacks on all civilians, whether Palestinian or Israeli.
Israel's slow strangulation of Gaza through blockade has caused widespread suffering to the 1.5 million people of Gaza due to lack of food, electricity, water treatment supplies and medical equipment. It is a violation of humanitarian law and has been widely condemned around the world.
In resisting this strangulation, Hamas resumed launching rockets and mortars from Gaza into southern Israel, directly targeting civilians, which is also a war crime. Over the years, these poorly made rockets have been responsible for the deaths of 15 Israelis since 2004.
Every country, Israel included, has the right and obligation to protect its citizens. The recent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza shows that diplomatic agreements are the best protection for civilian life.
Moreover, massive Israeli air strikes have proven an indiscriminate and brutal weapon. In just two days, the known death toll is close to 300, and the attacks are continuing. By targeting the infrastructure of a poor and densely populated area, Israel has ensured widespread civilian casualties among this already suffering and vulnerable population.
This massive destruction of Palestinian life will not protect the citizens of Israel. It is illegal and immoral and should be condemned in the strongest possible terms. And it threatens to ignite the West Bank and add flames to the other fires burning in the Middle East and beyond for years to come.
The timing of this attack, during the waning days of a US administration that has undertaken a catastrophic policy toward the Middle East and during the run-up to an Israeli election, suggests an opportunistic agenda for short-term political gain at an immense cost in Palestinian lives. In the long run this policy will benefit no-one except those who always profit from war and exploitation. Only a just and lasting peace, achieved through a negotiated agreement, can provide both Palestinians and Israelis the security they want and deserve.
What we will do together.
JVP is working now to develop a multi-faceted and long-term response to the attacks on and strangulation of Gaza. We will let you know soon how you can be a part of this. But in this moment, especially for thos of you who live in the United States:
1. The US Campaign to End the Occupation has a list of street actions taking place around the US now.
2. Contact the US White House to protest the attack and demand an immediate cease-fire. Call 202-456-1111 or send an email to comments@whitehouse.gov.
3. Contact the State Department at 202-647-6575
4. Contact your Representative and Senators in Congress at 202-224-3121
5. Contact your local media by phoning into a talk show or writing a letter to the editor.
Brit Tzedek v'Shalom
ReplyDeleteDear supporters of Brit Tzedek v'Shalom and members of the
American Jewish community,
Who among us has not watched in alarm and anguish as the crisis
has unfolded in Gaza and southern Israel over the past two days?
Close to 300 Palestinians have died and hundreds more are
wounded -- both Hamas militants and ordinary citizens. More than
120 rockets have been launched into Israel, with one man killed.
Though some Israeli action is an understandable response to
continued rocket fire from Hamas, and the idea of contained
surgical strikes may be compelling, these airstrikes represent a
huge escalation of the conflict -- a crisis that may end in a
wider war in which many more Palestinians and Israelis die in
the weeks to come.
The now familiar sequence of escalating mutual hostility,
invasion, and withdrawal without security arrangements has never
worked -- in Lebanon, the West Bank, or in Gaza itself. The
United States and the entire world community must intercede to
help reestablish a ceasefire, put an end to rocket attacks on
Israel, and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Brit Tzedek calls on President Bush to initiate an international
effort aimed at negotiating an immediate ceasefire. Such a
ceasefire must halt all attacks from both sides and allow
humanitarian assistance into Gaza.
Further, we call on President-elect Obama to make clear that he
will, as President, urgently assert US leadership to achieve a
comprehensive diplomatic resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian
and Arab-Israeli conflicts.
Today, black smoke spirals over Gaza as the hospitals fill with
the wounded. Israelis stay close to bomb shelters and 7000
reservists get ready for a possible ground assault. If the
international community fails to swiftly establish a durable
peace, the consequences will be dire. The current hostilities in
Gaza may be only the beginning.
There is no doubt that Israel has the right and the obligation
to protect its citizens. But Israel's only hope for survival as
a secure and democratic Jewish homeland lies in a diplomatic --
rather than military -- solution, and in a negotiated peace
agreement with the Palestinians.
Steve Masters, President, Brit Tzedek v'Shalom
Diane Balser, Executive Director, Brit Tzedek v'Shalom
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------Brit Tzedek v'Shalom---
, The Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace
11 E. Adams Street, Suite 707
Chicago, IL 60603
Phone: (312) 341-1205
Fax: (312) 341-1206
info@btvshalom.org
http://www.btvshalom.org
Indeed it is high time; that people are just seeing this and doing nothing about it. Do unto others as you would have them do to you.
ReplyDeleteWhere is the voice of the leaders of the neighbouring nations?
What are the Emir's; Sultan's; King's and other Rulers saying? Do they know? what's happening?
Where is UN ?
USA ?
Please put our selves in their shoes.
Please be kind....
Please bring peace ... please !